Drying apparatus.



H; S. HOPKINS.

DRYING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.10, 1911.

1,084,1 1 2.. .Patented July 3o, 1912.

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H. S. HOPKINS.

DRYING APPARATUS.

5 vwe He $511035 Nimm HENRY s. HOPKINS, or BncoKLYN, Naw Yonx.'

nnrrNe APPARATUS.

' Specication of Letters Patent.

Anlieltin lied Luguit 10, 1911. Serial No. 643,469.

Patented Juiy 3o, 1912.l

ftio allwhom. it may concern.: i

Be it known that I, HENRY S. HornrNs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State.

,of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drying Apparatus, gef which the following is .a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for drying in a continuous sheet or web, a material such as paper or cloth which has been subjected to some surface finishing or preparatory operation, s uch as coloring, top sizing, gummmg, printing, etc.

The principal objects of this inventlon are: first, to devise a drier through which the material can be passed in a continuous sheet or web directly from the coating machine, and then from the drier directly to the winding mechanism; second, to prevent the curling .up of the edges of the material while it is being dried; third, to provide means whereby the temperatureof the drying blast and the'amount of lmoisture contained therein may be regulated at will at any point of the passage of the material through the drier. Further objects will appear' from the detailed description and will be fully pointed out .in the claims.

trates this invention: Figure 1, is an elevation and Fig. 2 is a plan of one form of mydrying apparatus. Fig. 3 is a section taken along line III-III in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a section taken along line IV-IV in Fig'. l. Fig; 5 is a fragmental detail view. Fig. 6 is a section taken on line VI-VI in Fig. 5, the lateral dimensions of parts being exaggerated for the sake of clearness. Fig. 7 is an elevation and Fig. 8 is a plan of a modified form of my ap aratus. Fig. 9 is a section taken on line I IX of Fig. 7.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4, the numeral l 'indicates generally a coating machine from which the coated material 2 is fed to my improved drier. The latter consists of a casing A 3 divided into a plurality of compartments, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, etc'. I have shown only five of these compartments by way o-illustration, "but it may be understood that any desired number of compartments maybe used. In the first and last of these compartments are mounted drums 9 and 10 actuating an end-v less `conveyer A11 which carries the paper' through the. drier. DrumV 9 may be driven thereby.`

ledges as it dries.

In the accompanying drawing which illusfrom a pulley 12 which is turn driven from the same jack shaft which 'drives the coating machine. In this way it is assured that ,the conveyor willtravel at the'same speed as the .paper is fed from the coating 'machine The conveyor consists of a .belt i having transverse rods 13, which are guided on 'angle irons 14 secured to the inner side wall of the casing. Slots 15 are provided in the partitions 16, separating the compartments, and through which the conveycr belt passes, together with the paper carried As the material passes through the casing or drying chamber itis subjected to blasts of air which are directed downwardly upon the material so as to cause it to lie flat upon the belt, and prevent its curling along the These blasts of air are directed from the top of each compartment, contain varying amounts of suspended moisture andare also of different temperatures. Into the compartment adjacent to the point of exit of the material fromfthe apparatus, is forced a hot dry blast, while into the compartment adjacent to the point of entrance of the material into the drier, is forced a blast of a lower temperature and containing a greater amount of suspended moisture. The blasts in the intermediate compartments, normally, increase gradually in amount of suspended moisture, and decrease in temperature. k

To obtain the dry hot blastv I mount on the top of the last compartment a heater 17 through which air is forcedby a blower `18.

.This blast enters the compartment through Yopening 19, passes over the paper, past its edges, and down into the portlon of the compartment below the top run of the conveyer belt. From there it is exhausted and forced down upon the material in the next compartment, and so on. As the air thus passes through the drier it gathers up moisture and falls 1n temperature. The exhaustingand forcing of the air are' accomplished by af series offans mounted in the Idrier, one in each compartment.v A shaft 21 `i`s""j|`ournaled in the walls of each compartment,`on which.

shaft is mounted a fan 22 lbcated vrin a tubu. lar member 23 extending from the wall. A

j conduit or liuc 24 extends from the tubular member 23 of one compartment to the top of the next compartment, where it term1- nates in a. diverging mouth 25, having the general shape of an inverted hopper; The latter directs the blastso as to be distributed substantially' evenly upon the entire surface of the material. Y j y To adjust the opening presented for the 'escape of the air from the top to the bottom of each compartment, I provide slidable. or

otherwise adjustable members 26. Rods 27 arel connected to these slides and project through openings in the walls of the casing, and terminate in handles 28,- by'means of which the slides can be adjusted from the .exterior of `the apparatus. These sli'des `is not necessary in all cases. `With some qualities of paper and coatings suchoncentration is not necessary. Sight holes'29 are.'

provided for observing the condition of the material in any compartment. A

Upon the fan-shafts I mount cone pulleys 30 which are adapted to` be driven from cone pulleys 31, mounted on a shaft 32, running parallel with the length of the drier. These pulleys may be driven from each other by quarter turn belts. By shift- "ing the belt along the pulleys any desired strength of. blast can be' obtained for any compartment. This provides. for the adaptation Aof the blast to various conditions of material tobe dried. Y y 11 a-Shouia be found that theamount of moisture suspended inthe blast becomes excessive at any stage of its passage through the apparatus, a dry blast may be introduced into any compartment by properlyadjusting 'dampers 33, located in pipes 34, "connected to flue 35, extending'from the heater. The-moist air may. be exhausted byopening dampers 240 iny lues24; If, on the other hand, it is-found that the paper is drying be introduced intothe bottom of any compartment, and thus increase the amount of suspended moisture in the blast, and hence decrease the rapidity of drying. The steam may be introduced by means of small pipe sections 36, connectedto pipe 37, and containing valves 38.

When-paper is coated, the bottom side is unavoidably covered for a .short distance from the edge. Iv take advantage of this j circumstance to provide auxiliary means for assisting the air pressure zinzcausing the sheet to lie fiat upon the conveyer, and prevent its wrinkling or curling. Upon the screen 39 of the conveyer I. place strips 40 of fibrous material, preferably muslin or the like (Figs. .5 and 6). The `bottom of the V paper adjacent its edge will adhere-to the fibrous material and thus assist the air blast in keeping the paper flat upon the conveyer. p

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 7, 8, and 9, I show a modified form of my drying apparatus in which hinged fins 41 are used instead of slides for adjusting the conditions of the blast to various widths and conditions of material. The conduits or ilues 24a extend directly into the top of the casing 3a which is formed with sloping walls 42 having covers hinged thereto. The covers are formed in two sections 44 and 45 hinged together. This sectional convers one section at a time, and thus avoid interference with the belts which drive' the fan shafts.A By providing these covers for each compartment it is merely necessary to open ione of these when it is desired to exhaust Athe moist air from .any compartment. When a 4cover is opened for the purpose of 3 getting at the material, the adjacent fin can Abe swung inwardly andout of the way,'as tshown in Fig. 9. Rods' 46 are pivoted to Ethedns and project through slots 47 in the casing and terminate in handles 48. The irods are toothed to coperate with the walls of the slots to hold the fins in any .desired adjusted position. Sight holes A49 are provided at the top of each compartment to: observe the-condition of the material. In' sall other respects this modified. construction may be made substantially the same as the eonstruction illustrated in'Figs. 1 to 4.

It will-be seen from the foregoing that I ihave devised a drier through which a continuous length or web of moist material can be passed continually and dried, and then .passed on directly to any mechanism for further handlingvit, as for instance a Wind- -ing mechanism for winding the sheet or web into a roll. This prevents the delay in Q'handling which arises when the material is Vallowed to dry in ordinary atmosphere," and @also saves a large amount of Hoor space. too rapidly at any point, a jet of steam may l It will further be seen that I have .vided means for preventing the edges o the material from curling while drying, and Vthus eliminating a .very great source of an- -noyance and' waste. The material is caused to lie flat upon the conveyer, either by the assisted by the adherence ofthe edges of the material to the conveyer. The decrease of pressure below the apron 'produced by the suction of the fans .alsokassists in keepalso b e clear that the dryin apparatus disclosed herein is suiiiciently exible in its op-` eration to be adapted to a.A great variety of conditions. Provision is made" for adjustment for various widths of material andalso for obtaining practically lany desired structionmakes it possible to open the covv strength of the blast itself or by the blast ing the sheetilat upon the conveyer. It .will

Arate, of drying. The latter adjustment can be made, by varying the strength of blast, which may be done by shifting the belt along the cone pulleys on the fan shaft in any compartment; by increasing the'amount of suspended moisture in the blastby turn' avoided. This defect arises when surfacecoated materials are dried too rapidly at the beginning of the drying operation, and results in the retardation of the complete drying. However it is clear that with my construction I can if I. may desire, exhaust all of the moist ait?" at any compartment and introduce the dry blast into the following compartments. This may'be done when it is desired to accelerate the drying.

Various modications may be made, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim: j j j 1. In apparatus for drying sheets, a casing divided into a plurality of compartments, a conveyer belt passing through thev Walls of the compartments and adapted to carry a sheet to bedried, and means for directing a blast of air down upon the sheet and past its edges so as to cause it to lie flat upon the belt.

2. 1n apparatus for drying sheets and fabrics,-a conveyer adapted to carry a sheetv to be dried, means for directing a blast of air down upon the sheet., and means for concentrating the pressure along the edges of the sheet so as to cause it to lie fiat upon the conveyer.

3. In apparatus for' drying sheets, a casing divided into a plurality of compartments a conveyer belt passing through sald compartments and adapted to carry a sheet to be dried, means forforcing a blast of air down upon the material in each compartment'and past the edge of the sheet, said means being adaptedy to utilize the air exhausted from one compartment for forcing into the next compartment.

4.A drier, comprising a casing dividedl intov a plurality of compartments, a .con-

veyer passing through the compartments andl adapted to carry the material to `be dried, an air inlet at one end of the .casing and an air outlet at the opposite end of the casing, means 1n each compartment fory forcing a blast of air down upon the material in the next compartment, and connections for utilizing thesame air'repeatedly by causing it to move progressively through the various compartments from its point of entrance into, to its point of exit from the apparatus. Y 5. A drier, comprising a' casing divided into a plurality of compartments, means for forcing a blast of air down upon the material 1n each compartment, said blast having a progressively increasing amount ofmoisture suspended therein, starting from the compartment adjacent to the pointof exit of the material from the drier to the compartment adjacent to the point of entrance of the'material into the drier, and connections for forcing an auxiliary dry blast into y partment adjacent to the pointof entrance of the material into the drier, means for regulating the strength of blast in any compartment, and' connections for forcing an auxiliary dry blast into any compartment.

7. A drier comprising a casing divided into a plurality of compartments, means for forcing a blast of air down upon thematerial in each compartment, said blast having a progressively increasing amount of moisture suspended therein, starting from the compartment adjacent to the point of exit of the material from the drier, to the compartment adjacent to the point of entrance of the material into the drier, means 'for regulating the strength of blast in any compartment, connections for forcing an auxiliary dry blast into any compartment, and means for regulating the strength of said 'the blast so as to correspond to the width of the sheet to be dried.

9. A drier, -comprising a lcasing divided into a plurality \of, compartments, a conveyer passing .through the compartmefnts and adapted to carrythe material to be dried, means for forclng a blast of a1r Vinto each compartment and down upon the material, the degree of moisture in said blast being normally greater for the compartments near the point of entrance of the material into the casing than for 'the compartments near the point of exit of the material any compartment in the from'said casing, and means for increasing at :villthe amount of susprended moisture in ying chamber.

10. In apparatusl for drying-materialin a [continuous sheet or web, the combination of a drying chamber divided into a plurality .of compartments and through which the sheet is adapted to pass, means for forcing a blast of air into each compartment and down upon the sheet, the degree of moisture in said blast vbeing normally greaterA forthe compartments near` the point of entrance of the sheet into the chamber than for the compartir-ents near the point of exit oi the sheet from the chamber, and means for increasing and decreasing at will the relative l amount oi suspended moisture in any *com* partment in the chamber.

11. A- drier, comprising a casing .divided into a plurality of compartments, a conveyer in said compartments for,- carrying the material to be dried, means for forcing a blast of air downuponthe material in each compartment, .the amount of moisture suspended in said blast increasing progressively from the compartment adjacent' tothe point of exit of the niaterial'from -the casin to the. point of entrance of the material into.

the casing, means for, forcing an auxiliary dry blast intofany compartment, andv mcan's to allow the moist air tdbe Vexhausted from any compartment.

' 12. A dryer, comprising a drying cham; ber ydivided into `a.-plurality of compartments, aA conveyer passing through the compartments and adapted to carry asheet' to be dried, a Ifan located ifn each compartment to the top of the vnext compartment, and be-r low the conveyer, a 'conduit extending from the fan .of each compartment,4 said fans being adapted to'force the air from one compartmentjidown upon the material passing through Ithe next compartment and past the edges of the sheet, thus causing a downward pressure u'pon the 'top of thej'sheet throughout its width and a suctionbelow. the sheet.

'13; 'A drier-comprisinga drying chamber divided into a plurality of compartments, va .conveyer -passing through the compartments and, adaptedto carry the'material yto be dried, a fan located adjacent the exterior side wall of each compartment, and below the conveyer, a conduitextending from the 'fan' of onecompartment to the top of the 'next compartment, said *fans b ingadapted f to force the air from one compa tment down upon the material passing through the next compartment, shafts transverse to the length ofl the chamber,x0n whichsaid fans aremounted, and a shaft running lengthwise of the'chamber and driving the fan shafts.

dividedfinto a plurality of compartments, y convey er adapted to carry the material to b. dried and means for forcing a blast of air lll.- A drier, comprising a drying'chambe 'through the chamber in a `direction generally opposite to'the direction of motion of the material, a heater located \,adjacent the point of exit of the material from the drying chamber, and adapted to heat and dry the air initially forced into said chamber, said air blastcincreasing in amount of suspended moisture and decreasing intemperature as it circulatestthrough the compart- 'ments of the drying chamber and means for. exhaust-ing the moist air and supplying a dry blast at the intermediate compartments. 15. In :1n-apparatus for drying material in a continuous sheet or web,`a drying cham- ',ber,` a conveyer in said chamber adapted to carry the sheet to be dried, means for forcingl a blast of air down upon the material, an adjustable tins for directing the air blast in accordance with the width of the sheet so as to impinge onsubstantially the entire width -of the sheetand escape past the edges of the sheet to a point below the conveyer a ron. 16. In apparatusfor drying materia in a continuous sheet or web, a drying chamber, a conveyer in said chamber ada ted to car'ry thesheet to be dried, means or forcing al ,'blast ofair down u pon the materialV and adjustable pivot-allymounted fins for directing the air blast in accordance withthe width of the sheet past the edges of the sheet to a point below the apro divided into a plurality of compartments, a conveyer in said compartments for y'carryin the material to be dried, pivotally mounted fins in each compartment adapted to direct a blast of air down upon the material, and a.

movable lcover for each compartment, said fins and cover being "adapted to be swung in asdirection away' from the material `so as to permlt easy access thereto.

18.,.In, a drier` for drying material in sheets,a` conveyer for carrying the .material to be, dried, and means on the conveyerl adapted to adhere to the edges of the ma'- *terial so as'to prevent the latter from wrinkling `or curling. l

1 9. In apparatus for dr ing material in sheets, an endless conveyer belt for carrying the material to be dried, a strip of brous materialon said belt andf adapted to causeV the edges of the. first mentioned material't0.

20. In apparatus for drying' sheets coated on one side,'the\ coating extending over onto the bottom of the sheet adjacent the edge a .conveyer for carrying the' sheet and means on the conveyer adapted to adhere tothe partially coated bottom side of the sheet, causing the latter to lie llat upon the veyer l l 21. In apparatus for drying material in a continuous sheet or web, a conveyeradapted to carry the material to be dried, means for directing an" air blast downwardly upon the material and auxiliary means for causing the edges of the material to adhere to the con- Voyer, said auxiliary means coperating With the air blast to cause. the material to lie flat uponthe conveyer.

22. An apparatus for drying sheets, comprising a casing divided into a plurality of compartments, means for forcing a dry 'blast down upon the sheet at certain of the compartments and means for exhaustin to the atmosphere the moist air from certain other i of the compartments, the dry blast being adapted to be forced from one compartment into another and increasing in amount of suspended moisture contained therein up to 15 creasing the pressure below` the sheet and 2o directing a blast down upon the top of thesheet and past its edges, so as to cause the sheet to lie flat upon the conveyer.

HENRY s. HOPKINS.-

Witnesses: f

JACOB KIRSCHENBAUM, A RALPH B. I'r'rELIsoN. 

